Combining forces to reveal the faintest objects in our Universe

The purple dusty band of our Milky Way galaxy can be seen high above one of ESO's 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) which work with the Unit Telescopes (UTs) to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer. This combination allows astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes.